2:20 The Lord was furious with Israel. 4 He said, “This nation 5 has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors 6 by disobeying me. 7
6:22 When Gideon realized 22 that it was the Lord’s messenger, he 23 said, “Oh no! 24 Master, Lord! 25 I have seen the Lord’s messenger face to face!”
6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, 30 as you promised, then give me a sign as proof. 31
8:22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us – you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.” 46 8:23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”
9:8 “The trees were determined to go out 49 and choose a king for themselves. 50 They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’ 51
“With the jawbone of a donkey
I have left them in heaps; 72
with the jawbone of a donkey
I have struck down a thousand men!”
20:8 All Israel rose up in unison 87 and said, “Not one of us will go home! 88 Not one of us will return 89 to his house!
20:18 The Israelites went up to Bethel 90 and asked God, 91 “Who should lead the charge against the Benjaminites?” 92 The Lord said, “Judah should lead.”
1 tn Heb “Judah should go up.”
2 tn The Hebrew exclamation הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally, “Behold”), translated “Be sure of this,” draws attention to the following statement. The verb form in the following statement (a Hebrew perfect, indicating completed action from the standpoint of the speaker) emphasizes the certainty of the event. Though it had not yet taken place, the
3 tn Heb “saw.”
4 tn Or “The
5 tn Heb “Because this nation.”
6 tn Heb “my covenant which I commanded their fathers.”
7 tn Heb “and has not listened to my voice.” The expression “to not listen to [God’s] voice” is idiomatic here for disobeying him.
8 sn Some interpreters equate the
9 tn Heb “Go in this strength of yours.”
10 tn Heb “the hand of Midian.”
11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Note the switch to אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). Gideon seems aware that he is speaking to someone other than, and superior to, the messenger, whom he addressed as אֲדֹנִי (’adoniy, “my lord”) in v. 13.
13 tn Heb “with what.”
14 tn Heb “in my father’s house.”
15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gideon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “If I have found favor in your eyes.”
17 tn Heb “perform for me.”
18 tn The Hebrew text adds “to you,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
19 tn Heb “and I will bring out my gift.” The precise nuance of the Hebrew word מִנְחָה (minkhah, “gift”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a gift offered as a sign of goodwill or submission. In some cases it is used of a gift offered to appease someone whom the offerer has offended. The word can also carry a sacrificial connotation.
20 tn Heb “Take the meat…and put [it] on this rock.”
21 tn Heb “and he did so.”
22 tn Heb “saw.”
23 tn Heb “Gideon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
24 tn Or “Ah!”
25 tn The Hebrew text reads אֲדֹנַי יְהוִה (’adonay yÿhvih, “Lord [the same title used in v. 15],
26 tn Heb “each one to his neighbor.”
27 tn Heb “this thing.”
28 tn Heb “they inquired and searched.” The synonyms are joined to emphasize the care with which they conducted their inquiry.
29 tn Heb “and said.” Perhaps the plural subject is indefinite. If so, it could be translated, “they were told.”
30 tn More literally, “you are about to deliver Israel by my hand.”
31 tn The words “then give me a sign as proof” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
32 tn Heb “the people who are with you are too numerous for me to give Midian into their hand.”
33 tn Heb “might glorify itself against me.”
34 tn Heb “my hand has delivered me.”
35 tn Or “look.”
36 tn Heb “gleanings.”
37 sn Ephraim’s leftover grapes are better quality than Abiezer’s harvest. Gideon employs an agricultural metaphor. He argues that Ephraim’s mopping up operations, though seemingly like the inferior grapes which are missed initially by the harvesters or left for the poor, are actually more noteworthy than the military efforts of Gideon’s family.
38 tn Heb “What was I able to do compared to you?”
39 tn Heb “Then their spirits relaxed from against him, when he spoke this word.”
40 tn Or perhaps, “sell.”
41 tn Heb “Are the palms of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give to your army bread?” Perhaps the reference to the kings’ “palms” should be taken literally. The officials of Succoth may be alluding to the practice of mutilating prisoners or enemy corpses (see R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 155).
sn The officials of Succoth are hesitant to give (or sell) food to Gideon’s forces because they are not sure of the outcome of the battle. Perhaps they had made an alliance with the Midianites which demanded their loyalty.
42 tn Heb “Therefore.”
43 sn I will thresh. The metaphor is agricultural. Threshing was usually done on a hard threshing floor. As farm animals walked over the stalks, pulling behind them a board embedded with sharp stones, the stalks and grain would be separated. See O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 63-65. Gideon threatens to use thorns and briers on his sledge.
44 tn Or “flesh.”
45 tn This is apparently a rare instrumental use of the Hebrew preposition אֵת (’et, note the use of ב [bet] in v. 16). Some, however, argue that אֵת more naturally indicates accompaniment (“together with”). In this case Gideon envisions threshing their skin along with thorns and briers, just as the stalks and grain are intermingled on the threshing floor. See C. F. Burney, Judges, 229-30.
46 tn Heb “hand.”
47 tn Heb “We will indeed give.”
48 tc In the LXX the subject of this verb is singular, referring to Gideon rather than to the Israelites.
49 tn Heb “Going they went, the trees.” The precise emphatic force of the infinitive absolute (“Going”) is not entirely clear. Perhaps here it indicates determination, as in Gen 31:30, where one might translate, “You have insisted on going away.”
50 tn Heb “to anoint [with oil] over them a king.”
51 tn Or “Rule over us!”
52 tn Heb “Should I stop my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over the trees? The negative sentence in the translation reflects the force of the rhetorical question.
53 tn Heb “navel.” On the background of the Hebrew expression “the navel of the land,” see R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 178-79.
54 tn Heb “head.”
55 tn Some English translations simply transliterated this as a place name (Heb “Elon-meonenim”); cf. NAB, NRSV.
56 tn Heb “according to all whatever is good in your eyes.”
57 sn You do to us as you see fit, but deliver us today. The request seems contradictory, but it can be explained in one of two ways. They may be asking for relief from their enemies and direct discipline from God’s hand. Or they may mean, “In the future you can do whatever you like to us, but give us relief from what we’re suffering right now.”
58 tn Heb “The
59 sn The
60 tn Or “take”; or “seize.”
61 tn Heb “to my place.”
62 tn Heb “he sent her.”
63 tn Heb “on the hills.” The words “as she walked” are supplied.
64 tn The adjective “angelic” is interpretive (also in vv. 6, 9).
65 tn Heb “Look, you.”
66 tn Heb “and have not given birth.”
67 tn Heb “Please allow us to detain you.”
68 tn Heb “so we can prepare before you a young goat of the goats.”
69 tn Heb “Who your name? For [when] your word comes [to pass], we will honor you.” Manoah apparently gets tongue-tied and uses the wrong pronoun (“who” instead of “what”). He starts to say, “Who are you?” But then he switches to “your name” as if he began the sentence with “what.” See R. G. Boling, Judges (AB), 222.
70 tn Heb “you are unable to tell me.”
71 tn Heb “Give your riddle so we can hear it.”
72 tn The precise meaning of the second half of the line (חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם, khamor khamoratayim) is uncertain. The present translation assumes that the phrase means, “a heap, two heaps” and refers to the heaps of corpses littering the battlefield. Other options include: (a) “I have made donkeys of them” (cf. NIV; see C. F. Burney, Judges, 373, for a discussion of this view, which understands a denominative verb from the noun “donkey”); (b) “I have thoroughly skinned them” (see HALOT 330 s.v. IV cj. חמר, which appeals to an Arabic cognate for support); (c) “I have stormed mightily against them,” which assumes the verb חָמַר (khamar, “to ferment; to foam; to boil up”).
73 tn Heb “the pillars upon which the house is founded.”
74 tn Heb “And I am going to reside in a place I can find.”
75 tn Heb “father.” “Father” is here a title of honor that suggests the priest will give advice and protect the interests of the family, primarily by divining God’s will in matters, perhaps through the use of the ephod. (See R. G. Boling, Judges [AB], 257; also Gen 45:8, where Joseph, who was a diviner and interpreter of dreams, is called Pharaoh’s “father,” and 2 Kgs 6:21; 13:14, where a prophet is referred to as a “father.” Note also 2 Kgs 8:9, where a king identifies himself as a prophet’s “son.” One of a prophet’s main functions was to communicate divine oracles. Cf. 2 Kgs 8:9ff.; 13:14-19).
76 tn The Hebrew text expands with the phrase: “and the Levite went.” This only makes sense if taken with “to live” in the next verse. Apparently “the Levite went” and “the Levite agreed” are alternative readings which have been juxtaposed in the text.
77 tn Heb “Ask God.”
78 tn Heb “so we can know if our way on which we are going will be successful.”
79 tn Heb “bitter in spirit.” This phrase is used in 2 Sam 17:8 of David and his warriors, who are compared to a bear robbed of her cubs.
80 tn Heb “and you will gather up your life and the life of your house.”
81 tn Heb “who are not from the sons of Israel.”
82 tn Or “young man.”
83 tn Heb “we will enter one of the places.”
84 tn Heb “the man, the traveler.”
85 tn Heb “Peace to you.”
86 tn Heb “And the man took her on the donkey and arose and went to his place.”
87 tn Heb “as one man.”
88 tn Heb “to his tent.”
89 tn Or “turn aside.”
90 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
91 tn Heb “They arose and went up to Bethel and asked God, and the Israelites said.”
92 tn Heb “Who should go up for us first for battle against the sons of Benjamin?”
93 tn Heb “one.”
94 tn Or “felt sorry for.”
95 tn Heb “cut off one.”
96 tn Or “elders.”
97 tn Heb “What should we do for the remaining ones concerning wives?”